Principal Naval Architect, Arun Pillai (pictured) is presenting at a Society of Maritime Industry forthcoming event on Autonomous Vessels. The “OIG Open Seminar on Autonomous Vessels and the Offshore Industry” takes place on March 20th at the SMI’s London headquarters, Threadneedle Street. It is designed to reflect the fast pace of change in technology employed by offshore industries and features a panel of experts in offshore wind farm operations, autonomous vessel suppliers and specialist naval architects.

Arun will map out the Houlder design team’s early views on autonomous vessels and their potential role in the offshore sector. Based largely on the design spiral framework, he will cover vessel spaces, shape and size, structure, stability, speed, machinery and propulsion.  Issues influencing design include cargo handling requirement, fire protection, station keeping and mooring and operations and maintenance. These are all aspects that will evolve as the specific challenges of autonomous operation become clear, however an early technical view will provide guidance and food for thought with those tasked with developing future operations.

Arun joins two fellow speakers for the morning seminar as below.

• Captain Mike Vanstone, Head of Offshore Logistics & Marine Operations, Vattenfall Offshore Wind, will explore the challenges his industry is facing and the demands that need to be met by offshore operations & maintenance suppliers in the future.
• Dan Hook, Director, Autonomous Surface Vehicles Ltd, will describe the current and future capability of Autonomous Vessels and look at their application in Offshore Industries

The Society of Maritime Industries provides a wide range of activities both internationally and in the UK for the benefit of the maritime engineering business community. It organises a full calendar of seminars, trade missions and exhibitions, as well as taking part in events run by other organisations.

Arun Pillai is a Chartered Naval Architect and Project Management Professional.  He holds an MSc Marine Technology from the University of Glasgow/Strathclyde. His early career was with Lloyd’s Register R&D/SERS, London and as Assistant Manager of the Structural Design Department at the Mazagon Docks, Mumbai. His later experience comprised senior technical roles in the Oil & Gas sector, with Technip, Fugro and Premier Oil, managing design and research projects, and asset integrity. At Houlder, he combines project management, structural and installation design and analysis skills, with practical experience of shipyard works to the benefit of clients in the offshore and renewable energy sector.

You can register for the event, which includes a networking lunch, on the SMI website here.